Chapter 15: The Red Hen
Summary: The aftermath of Syrus and Dimitri's duel, and Takashi apparently has a reputation with the Slifer Red students.
Winner- Syrus Truesdale
Dimitri closes his eyes and lets out a breath, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Taking Yugi's cards out of his duel disk, he walks over to Syrus to return them with a small smile.
"Here, I guess it's time to return these." Dimitri looks away in shame. "I should also turn myself in." Syrus's eyes widen and starts waving his hands frantically.
"I-I mean you're returning the deck, and the cards don't look damaged!" Syrus turns to look back at the others. "We can just return the deck and say the thief was disguised and ran away, right?!" His friends all agree, except Takashi who stays silent with his eyes closed. Syrus looks worried at Takashi. "Takashi?" With a sigh Takashi looks towards the farther rocky outcrops.
"You all are not as subtle or quiet as you think! Go ahead and come out!" The others look confused until other students of various dorms, including Zane, reveal themselves. Syrus looks around with wide eyes.
"How long have you all been here? How much did you see?!" Zane steps forward with a calm smile on his face.
"We saw it all Syrus. And I must say, you have definitely improved as a duelist." At this point an embarrassed blush blooms on Syrus's face
"Aw well, I have some great examples." Seeing his reaction Zane just chuckles.
"I mean it Syrus. But we do have the other matter." He looks behind Syrus to Dimitri. "I was here for the whole duel, everyone else started trickling in after your first turn. I was heading back to my dorm from the docks when I heard the commotion." A Ra student steps forward rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly.
"Me and some others were actually trying to see if we could get a sneak peek at the deck. When we saw it was missing, we all went looking, and then we saw you dueling, we called our friends, who called theirs and so on." He gestures to the at least a hundred students that watched the duel. Jaden laughs at this while Takashi shakes his head with a sigh. Zane speaks up again.
"I think I speak for everyone when I say we'll keep quiet about this. Getting to see the deck in action live is definitely better than just seeing the cards themselves." The other students nod in excitement giving Dimitri encouragement and Takashi sighs.
"Alright I'll keep quiet about this. But…" Takashi walks up to the nervous Dimitri with a stern expression you might find on a parent scolding their child. Once he reaches him, he taps the top of his head with a soft chop. "No more stealing." Dimitri chuckles nervously.
"I promise. I'm on the straight and narrow now." With a tired smile Takashi changes the chop to a head pat.
"That's good to hear." The Ra and Obelisk students look bewildered at the scene while the Slifer students look on unfazed. A female Ra student leans over to a Slifer boy and asks.
"How is he doing that? He's our age, but it feels like I'm watching a teacher or parent scold a child." The Slifer boy laughs.
"That's how he is with everyone, it's why we call him the Red Hen; he parents the other students, and he just gives an aura that makes it so people go along with it." The Ra girl's eyes get wider.
"There have been rumors that the Slifer Red Dorm's overall grades have been on a small incline. And that incidents of rule breaking have been on the decline too." The Slifer boy chuckles sheepishly.
"Yeah, most of us in the dorm don't want to disappoint him, and the ones who don't care are worried about the backlash from the rest of us if they make him upset, so we've been on our best behavior. Though we're probably going to be getting lectured tonight for sneaking out past curfew to try and get a sneak peek." The Ra girl sweat drops at that.
"God, that's going to be us when he decides to move to the Ra dorm isn't it." The Slifer boy laughs at this causing the Ra girl to slump. With that the group had dispersed. Bastion bids farewell to his friends and follows the Ra students, who bring Dimitri back with them to their dorm, praising his skills and poking fun at his Yugi impression. Zane finishes talking to Syrus and returns to his dorm with the Obelisk boys, Alexis doing the same with the girls.
The boys waved the other Slifer students goodnight and went to Dr. Crowler's office to return the deck. Dr. Crowler was upset that they had let the culprit get away but his relief at the deck being returned was enough to keep his anger at bay.
/RFSXPL/
It had been a week since the incident with Yugi's deck when Professor Banner called Takashi into his office/room. Sitting across from each other, Banner speaks first with his trademark calm smile.
"Thank you for making time to speak with me on such short notice Takashi." Takashi gives Banner a small smile.
"I always have time for my teachers, Professor Banner. May I ask what you needed to speak to me for?" Banner nods.
"Ah yes. We will be getting a new student tomorrow, a boy named Blair Flannigan, he needs a room. I know you have special equipment and cards in your room, but you are currently the only male Slifer student who doesn't share a room, so I was hoping he could room with you." Takashi nods with a concerned frown.
"While I don't mind having a roommate, I should warn them I have semi-frequent nightmares about the incident that cost me my arms and legs." Banner gives Takashi an understanding look.
"Yes, that could be an issue. I suppose if they don't want to room with you, we could always have him room in Chumley, Jaden, and Syrus's room, and one of them room with you. His grades were very high, and I see him moving to Ra very soon, so the switch would only be temporary." Takashi's small smile returns.
"That sounds acceptable to me. I'll run it by the others to see how they'll feel, but I don't think they will have a problem with switching rooms for a while if they need to." Banner claps his hands with a satisfied smile.
"Very good! I will inform Blair of your condition and let you know their decision!" Standing up Takashi gives a small bow to Banner.
"I await their answer, have a good day sir." With that Takashi takes his leave.
/RFSXPL/
Back in his room Takashi has just finished explaining the situation to Chumley, Jaden, and Syrus. Jaden looks positively ecstatic.
"Ah man a new student AND one of us might get to room with you! So sweet!" Jaden gets a mischievous grin. "Is it wrong of me to say I hope they don't want to room with you so I can?" Takashi and Chumley chuckle while Syrus sighs tiredly.
"It is wrong bro. We shouldn't hope Takashi makes someone so uncomfortable they don't want to room with him!" Jaden chuckles at that, while Takashi gives Syrus an amused look.
"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, but yes, as much fun as it would be to room with one of you, I really would prefer that one of our fellow Slifers is comfortable with me." Syrus rubs the back of his head at the flub.
"Sorry Takashi I'm still working on the whole 'not putting my foot in my mouth' thing." Chumley grins and pokes Syrus in the side.
"I WAS starting to wonder if your shoe tasted good with how much you were putting it in there." All the boys share a laugh at the banter.
/RFSXPL/
The next morning, Professor Banner informed him that Blair had agreed to try rooming with him first, the Professor having apparently put in a good word for him. The Slifers were eating breakfast when Professor Banner made the announcement.
"Attention my students, this is your new dorm mate, Blair Flannigan. Please give him a warm welcome." Blair steps forward hiding his eyes under the brim of his hat before giving a short timid bow.
"H-Hi, it's nice to be here, please look after me." The Slifer students all give their greetings as Takashi walks to Blair with a calming smile.
"It's nice to meet you Blair, my name is Takashi Mirai, I'll be your roommate and can help you with anything you might need." Blair looks up a little relieved to see how polite and warm Takashi is, speaking with a little more confidence.
"It's nice to meet you too Takashi, I'll try not to be much of a bother." Takashi shakes his head with a chuckle.
"And here I was worried about being a bother to you. What do you say we both be respectful roommates." Blair blushes and nods.
"Ok." Takashi just keeps his calm smile.
"Did you eat before you got here?" Blair nods. "In that case, would you like to take a look at our room and get unpacked?" Another nod.
"That would be nice." Takashi smiles and leads Blair to their room.
/RFSXPL/
Blair takes a look around the bedroom with a little awe, seeing the prosthetics and hi-tech looking safes. "Wow." Takashi chuckles at that.
"I'm glad you seem to approve of the room." Blair nods wordlessly, his eyes lingering on the rack with the spare prosthetics before he asks in a nervous tone.
"I-is it true you really lost your limbs?" Takashi gives a reassuring smile before rolling up his sleeves and pants legs to show the prosthetics.
"I lost them not that long ago; I was very fortunate that Mr. Pegasus took me in and used his connections with Mr. Kaiba to get me these." Blair absentmindedly nods, staring at the metal limbs as if entranced.
"They look cool." Takashi chuckles at that, making Blair blush as he realizes what he said. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that, please don't be mad!" Takashi puts his hand on top of his hat to get him to calm down.
"It's fine Blair, I know you weren't being malicious. In fact, I'm flattered that you like them so much." Blair, still blushing in embarrassment, nods and goes to their suitcase to start unpacking. He calms down as he unpacks, but stops, turning around when he hears a rustling noise, finding Takashi setting up a make-shift wall in the corner of the room, using a curtain.
"What are you doing?" Takashi turns around with an embarrassed smile.
"Ah well, I don't mind people seeing the prosthetics, but I'm a little self-conscious of the scars, so I'm putting this up to have a place to change my clothes in privacy." Blair blushes for a minute before shaking it off and giving Takashi a big nervous grin.
"That sounds like a great idea, and to make you not feel singled out, I'll change in it too- if you don't mind." Takashi gives Blair a small smile.
"That would be perfectly fine, thank you for worrying about my feelings like that, you are very considerate." Blair laughs nervously waving Takashi off.
/RFSXPL/
It has been two days since Blair had arrived and he has started to settle in, though some found it odd that he would disappear for a few hours every day, most shrugged it off, assuming he was touring his home for the next four years. On the second night, Takashi was in his room tinkering with his deck, when Blair bursts into the room, running to the beds where he started crying. Concerned, Takashi sets his deck down and walk towards the bed, looking at Blair worriedly.
"Are you alright Blair?" Blair pulls the covers over himself and sniffles, but otherwise stays quiet. "Do you want to talk about it?" More silence. "Does it have to do with your secrets?" Blair stiffens under the blankets and quietly asks, with his voice hoarse from crying.
"W-what secrets?" Takashi gives a soft knowing smile.
"That you're a girl, and that you're younger than you say." Blair remains silent for another minute before pulling the covers off and looks at Takashi with red puffy eyes.
"How long have you known?" Takashi gives her a gentle smile.
"Since you got here." Blair's eyes widen and she takes her hat and orange bandana off, revealing long blue hair that she has up with a hair clip.
"That's why you set up the curtain." Takashi just keeps smiling.
"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you now?" Blair sits up and hugs her knees to her chest mumbling.
"You'll think it's stupid." Takashi gives her a reassuring look and climbs the ladder to the top bunk, gesturing for her to scoot over, which she does and he takes a seat next to her.
"I promise I won't. If it's enough to make you cry, that means it's important to you." Blair sniffles again then speaks up.
"I'm only eleven years old. I forged my papers to get in early so I could see someone again and confess my love to them." Takashi nods in understanding his comforting smile never leaving his face.
"And I take it, it didn't go well." Blair nods again, tears forming in her eyes once more.
"Zane said I was too young, and he wasn't looking for a relationship right now anyway. But I know he was trying to let me down gently because he's a gentleman. Why would someone so amazing ever love someone like me!" Takashi reaches over to put his hand on her head making her look up at him in confusion.
"Hey none of that now. Don't be selling yourself short. It might have been wrong, but you did manage to forge documents the staff believed, and had the duel skills to back it up." Blair sniffles and looks away.
"It wasn't that impressive." Takashi chuckles, ruffling her hair.
"It WAS impressive though; you passed a test people three years your senior struggle with." Blair shrugs Takashi's hand off her head and looks back at him with tears streaming down her face.
"Then why did Zane reject me?! Why doesn't he love me?!" Takashi looks at Blair with a sad smile.
"Because Zane wasn't lying Blair, he really isn't looking for a relationship and he IS too old for you. Zane's seventeen and you're still eleven, and six years may not seem like a lot of time when you're an adult, but for kids like us, that's a big difference." Blair hiccups.
"B-But I l-love him." With a look of understanding Takashi rubs the top of her head soothingly.
"I know you do Blair. I'm not going to belittle your feelings by just calling it a crush. But you have to understand, it's ok to have those feelings, but you can't force them. If someone doesn't feel that way about you, there isn't anything you can do." Blair continues to hiccup from crying.
"B-but it hurts." Takashi looks down at her with sad knowing eyes.
"I know it hurts now, Blair, but I promise you it will get better. As corny as it is to say, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You might always harbor some feelings for Zane, the heart wants what the heart wants after all, but I'm sure one day you'll find someone you love just as much, maybe even more than you love Zane." She looks up at him with hopeful teary eyes.
"Do you really think so?" Takashi gives her a small smile eyes full of confidence.
"I know it." The dam breaks and Blair sobs latching onto a surprised Takashi in a hug.
"T-Thank you!" Takashi breaks out of his shock and gives her a smile, wondering if this is a feeling all big brothers get when comforting a younger sibling. He rubs the top of her head and thinks back to familiar tune, one he used to hum to himself in his early days at The Compound. With that in mind he begins humming that tune to Blair as she lets out her pain.
/RFSXPL/
The next morning, after explaining the situation to Professor Banner, Blair and Takashi were waiting at the docks for the boat to pick Blair up. She had apparently told her parents because of her grades in the middle school division of Duel Academy, she was being given a weekend tour of the High School campus. Blair kept her hair down and was looking disappointed.
"Do I really have to leave?" Takashi chuckles seeing her pout.
"Yes, you do, Blair. The earliest the academy will let someone in is thirteen, and that's only if they truly prove themselves. Keep up your grades and dueling skills, and you can apply for early entry in two years." Blair groans.
"But then you'll only be here for two more years." Takashi actually laughs at that.
"Have you already gotten attached to me in two days?" Blair blushes and pouts looking away.
"I don't have any siblings, but when you comforted me last night it felt like I had a big brother." Takashi stops laughing and places his hand on her head with a soft look.
"Well, I don't have any siblings either, but it felt like I was comforting a younger sibling too. So why don't we be each other's honorary brother and sister?" Blair brightens up at that smiling at Takashi.
"I'd like that…" Blair sticks her tongue out at him. "Big bro!" Takashi laughs and ruffles her hair messing it up.
"Then it's a deal little sis!" Someone clearing their throat interrupts the two.
"I hope I'm not intruding." Blair turns around in surprise to see Zane while Takashi looks back smiling, having been expecting him.
"Not at all, in fact you're just in time." Takashi gestures behind him to the approaching ship. Blair snaps out of her shock.
"Zane! What are you doing here?!" Zane looks at her with a slightly embarrassed expression.
"Well, someone brought it to my attention that I might not of handled the situation as delicately as I should have." Blair looks at Takashi in shock.
"Did you call him here Takashi?!" Takashi scratches his cheek in embarrassment.
"I may have called so you could get some closure, now that Zane isn't caught off guard by a confession." Blair blushes atomic red yelling at Takashi.
"Takashi!" Takashi looks away "innocently" as Zane steps forward.
"Listen Blair, I didn't explain myself last night and let you run away upset. I think you're a very sweet girl, but I AM too old for you. But I hope when we see each other again, we can be friends." Blair turns away from Takashi to look at Zane, eyes shadowed by her bangs before she looks up with a sad smile.
"I still really like you Zane, but I understand now. It hurts, it might hurt for a while, but when it doesn't, I would be happy to be friends with such a great guy." Zane gives a sigh of relief as Takashi looks at Blair with some pride.
"I'm happy to hear that, Blair." Zane then holds his hand out for her to shake, as she does so the boat sounds it's horn as it comes to a stop and let's down its ramp making Blair let go and look back.
"Well, that's my ride." She bows to Zane. "I look forward to seeing you again, Zane." Zane smiles.
"I look forward to it too." Blair then runs up and hugs Takashi.
"I'm going to miss you, Takashi. I am going to message you every day until I make it into the academy early in two years." Takashi smiles while hugging her back.
"I look forward to them, see you in two years." With that said the two separate and Blair boards the boat waving to Takashi, who waves back, until she is out of sight.
Woo! Finished this one down to the wire. So context, I'm going to aim for keeping my weekly uploads, but I am in the middle of moving and it's eating up my writing time, so if there is a delay in chapters I apologize, I just gotta make sure I don't burn out.